The Keys of Hell. Jack Higgins

      JACK

      HIGGINS

      THE KEYS

      OF HELL

COPYRIGHT

      HarperCollinsPublishers

      1 London Bridge Street

      London SE1 9GF

       www.harpercollins.co.uk

      Special overseas edition 2001

      This edition 2002

      Published simultaneously in hardback by

      HarperCollinsPublishers

      First published in the USA by

      Berkley Books 2001

      Copyright © Harry Patterson 2001

      Jack Higgins asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

      This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

      Source ISBN: 9780006514671

      Ebook Edition © JULY 2015 ISBN: 9780008159122

      Version: 2015-07-31

      HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

      THE KEYS OF HELL was first published in the UK by Abelard-Schuman, London, in 1965 under the authorship of Martin Fallon. The author was, in fact, the writer familiar to modern readers as Jack Higgins. Martin Fallon was one of the names he used during his early writing days. The book was later published in paperback by Coronet Books – under the authorship of Jack Higgins – but it has been out of print for several years.

      In 2001, it seemed to the author and his publishers that it was a pity to leave such a good story languishing on his shelves. So Jack Higgins has created an entirely new framework to the original book, added some scenes and made some changes throughout. We are delighted to be able to bring back THE KEYS OF HELL for the pleasure of the vast majority of us all who never had a chance to read the original edition.

DEDICATION

       There are no keys to hell – the doors are open to all men.

      Albanian proverb

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Publisher’s Note

Dedication

Manhattan: 1995

Chapter 1

Rome Matano: 1965

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

       Chapter 5

       Chapter 6

       Chapter 7

       Chapter 8

       Chapter 9

       Chapter 10

       Chapter 11

       Chapter 12

       Chapter 13

       Chapter 14

       Chapter 15

       Chapter 16

       Manhattan: 1995

       Chapter 17

       Keep Reading

       About the Author

       Other Books By

       About the Publisher

MANHATTAN

1

      The dream was always the same. Plunging into the marsh, forcing his way through the reeds and mist, pushing the punt hard, Guilio Orsini standing at the front finding the way through and then the engine close by breaking into life and a burst of machine-gun fire.

      Guilio went over head-first, always did, and Chavasse floundered through the reeds and the bitterly